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Hauptmann, Gerhart, 1862-1946

"The Dramatic Works of Gerhart Hauptmann Volume I"

.. I'm peaceable,
Missis. I never liked bein' a constable, but ...
MRS. FIELITZ
Well, then! Everybody knows that! On that very account! An' now there
ain't nobody as bad as you! You're actin' like a reg'lar bloodhound! Why?
You've always been as good as gold, Rauchhaupt! Every child in the place
knows that! An' now, what's all this about?--You c'n go an' open one o'
them there bottles. Why shouldn't we go an' drink a bit o' a drop
together? [_RAUCHHAUPT wipes his eyes and then walks across to draw the
cork of one of the bottles._]--Fightin' c'n begin again afterwards. I
s'ppose life ain't no different from that.--An' we can't change it. There
ain't nothin' but foolishness around. An' when you want to go an' open
people's eyes--you can't do it! Foolishness--that's what rules this
world.--What are we: you an' me an' all of us? We has had to go worryin'
and workin' all our lives--every one of us has! Well, then! We ought to
know how things reely is! If you don't join the scramble--you're lazy: if
you do--you're bad.--An' everythin' we does get, we gets out o' the dirt.
People like us has to turn their hands to anythin'! An' they, they tells
you: be good, be good! How? What chanct has we got? But no, we don't even
live in peace with each other.


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